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FITNESS
First-Time Ironman Triathlete Journal
By Mimi Wacholder
This is one of the most difficult articles I have ever had to write. It is an article profiling a first time Ironman hopeful: me. It is hard to start writing about my plans to do the race when I'm not even convinced that I can do the race—it is six months out and my training has barely begun. What I do know is that I am committed to giving Ironman a try.
I have signed up for Ironman USA Lake Placid triathlon, which will take place on July 21, 2001. The Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile marathon. I agree, the numbers seem daunting, but somewhere I got it in my head that this might be something I could accomplish. That somewhere was at the finish line of Ironman Lake Placid in 1999. Seeing average people cross that line—some crawling, some doing cartwheels and everyone glowing—was one of the most impressionable experiences of my life. I thought then, "I'm gonna do this someday."
With that thought in the back of my mind, I signed up for a nine-mile running race a few months later. I can't say I did much training—a few three to five-mile runs here and there—the race was challenging and I was thrilled to have finished. Not long after that, I did a half marathon. Successively, last summer, I surprised myself again by finishing the Tupper Lake Tinman—a triathlon that is half the Ironman distance. Like the nine-mile race, I was not setting an example by my training regime for the Tinman. Race day marked my longest-ever bike ride and swim and my only other distance runs were the two mentioned above. To simply finish the race was a surprising reward and my sore muscles for several days following were an indicator that a consistent training program might be in order.
Bottom line is that I'm not an endurance athlete, just a regular person who likes having goals and setting out to accomplish them. I try not to say that I've decided to do the Ironman but rather that I have decided to train for the Ironman. I started training about a month ago with a weight lifting program and workouts to establish an endurance base in all 3 disciplines. Right now it all adds up to about 12 hours a week, which is hard to sustain, but exciting to already notice some gains—slight, but intelligible.
My first goal is to make it to the start of the race. There are so many variables including injury, time commitment, life changes and more that could change my plans. Out of the approximate 2,000 athletes that sign up for the race, nearly 300 don't make it to race day. Next, if I make it to the start, my goal will be to be an official finisher by completing the race within 17 hours. Another statistic: 150-200 starters don't finish.
For the next six months, this will be a tremendous commitment of time and energy. I would like the race commitment to benefit others beside myself; therefore, I have elected to raise funds to benefit a charity—the Head Start Community Action Program. Additionally, being a writer, I decided to chronicle my training experience and progress in Adirondack Sports & Fitness in hope of inspiring others to pursue and achieve their goals.
Editor's note: This First-Time Ironman Journal will document Mimi's
training and progress toward completing the race in the next six issues.
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